Search This Blog

donga.com [english donga]: "Korea is one of the countries that are shown to suffer the most rapid brain drain according to the brain drain index, created by the Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Switzerland. Korea scored 7.53 (with zero meaning total drain and 10 meaning total influx) in 1996, ranking fourth, but our nation ranked 38th among 58 countries with a score of 4.91 last year."

this fact was a surprise to me. Here I thought that people came to US universities because of their reputation alone.

"...Many countries are struggling to attract brains. The U.S. government spent $1 million on airing TV commercials in China and India to lure foreign students to U.S universities this year. China lures talented people by offering world-class wages, housing, cars and income tax reduction to talented human resources from abroad. India encourages domestic brains in the U.S and Europe to come back by acknowledging dual citizenship."

...The number of Korean students studying at foreign universities has hit a record high of 217,000. A whopping 46 percent of Korean professionals with a doctor’s degree in science and engineering in the U.S. settle there. It is difficult to attract smart people from abroad with the Korean government’s regulation making universities equal and public education policy. Globally-acknowledged brains are also reluctant to come back to Korea, for the lowering quality of its public education system cannot satisfy their children. The government should reform its public education system and draw foreign world-class universities."

it is worth noting that Fulbright sends Korean students to study at US universities but requires that they return to Korea for at least two years after finishing their degrees.

Popular posts from this blog

The government says two is the maximum, because of heavy cadmium levels found in local and imported octopuses. But that has infuriated restaurateurs and fishermen in South Jeolla, who say the government’s warning has cost them a bundle in lost sales.

The octopus head war began in September, when the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it discovered heavy concentration of cadmium in octopus heads sold in Seoul.

According to the city government, of three Korean and six Chinese octopuses purchased at local fish markets, supermarkets and department stores, up to 29.3 milligrams of cadmium per kilogram was found in the heads, 14 times higher than the permitted level of 2.0 milligrams. Cadmium is a carcinogen that also poisons the liver and kidneys.

The government advised consumers to completely remove any internal organs, ink and intestinal matter b…

One of my favorite things to do here has been to visit Buddhist temples and Buddhas. If you have been visiting this blog with any frequency you have probably figured that out. No shortage of them here, luckily. Shake a stick and there is a temple worth visiting and a Buddha worth admiring.

I have some Buddha images that haven't yet appeared on Nunal I have been meaning to post, so here is a surfeit of big Buddhas in Seoul. If I really get a chance I will post some photos of myriad little Buddhas.

Well, maybe just one photo of little Buddhas. This is from Samseongsa (there are two sets of these flanking the main Buddha image:

Now on to the big Buddhas

This one is actually in our neighborhood, just north of where we live on a parallel street, at the base of a mountain that is really one of the foothills of Bukhansan. As I have developed a more complete understanding of the bus system (which is entirely in Korean, unlike the subway, so a bit mysterious), I have a new appreciation …